


Puppy Love

by StatueOfLuberty



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, actually really adorable, fiction obvi, kaner puppy, kinda adorable, puppy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2014-08-16
Packaged: 2018-02-13 08:55:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2144685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StatueOfLuberty/pseuds/StatueOfLuberty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So, I got this idea when I heard my dogs barking at me when I got home. A lot of people have done stuff like turning into a child or cat when stressed. I thought this would be cool because he's not stressed or anything. It just happens.</p><p>By the way, I spell it "Johnny." I know people get angry over it, but that;s how I was taught to spell it, so you'll either have to deal or not read it.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Puppy Love

**Author's Note:**

> So, I got this idea when I heard my dogs barking at me when I got home. A lot of people have done stuff like turning into a child or cat when stressed. I thought this would be cool because he's not stressed or anything. It just happens.
> 
> By the way, I spell it "Johnny." I know people get angry over it, but that;s how I was taught to spell it, so you'll either have to deal or not read it.

Johnny didn't mean for it to happen. He promises he didn't mean it. He had a dream, okay?

Johnny went to bed last night and fell asleep almost immediately, thinking about Pat and puppies (he was drunk, and those were the last two living things he saw, okay?), and he had a weird dream that Pat turned into a puppy forever. He was fucking adorable because what dog isn't? He woke up with the goofiest smile on his face, and he reached for his phone, expecting a bunch of texts from Pat to remind him that he's picking him up for practice. It's Johnny's turn to, but Kaner loves driving, so he likes to take advantage of all the times Johnny doesn't want to drive.

The only problem is that he doesn't have any texts. Or voicemails. Or messages on Facebook (don't even ask why he still has one because he has no idea, but he can't find himself to delete it.)

Johnny rolls out of bed and texts Pat,  _u coming?_ , but he doesn't get an answer back. He shrugs it off and gets a quick breakfast before getting dressed and brushing his teeth. He grabs his bag and shoves his phone into pocket as he goes downstairs to wait for Pat in the lobby like he usually does. When Pat doesn't arrive at the time he said he would, Johnny starts to get a little nervous. No texts, no calls, and no Pat. He waits a few more minutes, and he decides to drive himself because he can't be late. If he's late, everybody will think that he can be late because the captain gets to do it, so why can't they? He calls Patrick on the way, and it rings a total of six times before it goes to voicemail.

"Hey Pat, it's Johnny. I don't know if you forgot that we have practice or something, but I waited for you for a few minutes before driving myself. You better be at practice by the time I'm on the ice, or I'm making you stay on for suicides. Yeah, that's what happened to Shawzy the last time he was late. Alright, I'll see you later."

When he arrives to practice, Shawzy and Brandon are pulling into their parking spots. Johnny doesn't know how they manage to arrive at the same time every single practice or game, but it's spooky-yet-convenient for Johnny. He looks down at his phone to see the screen completely empty of any notifications. He frowns slightly and shoves it back into his pocket before walking in with Shawzy and Brandon.

"Have either of you heard from Pat?" Johnny asks once they're inside.

"No, why?" Brandon questions.

"I haven't heard from him since last night. Shawzy, don't give me that look. It was his turn to drive, and I didn't get any calls or texts. I drove myself here, and he's refusing to pick up his phone. I don't know where he could possibly be," he sighs.

"Maybe he drank his night away," Shawzy comments.

"Don't even joke about that," Johnny snaps.

Brandon's eyes widen as his head snaps to Johnny. "You didn't hear?" The silence from Johnny answers his question. "Amanda broke up with him last night."

Before anybody can say anything else, Johnny's running back to his car, his bag dropped in the middle of the hallway. He speeds to Pat's apartment and runs upstairs, not even bothering to take the elevator. He uses his spare key to get inside and slams the door shut.

"Patrick!" he shouts, looking around to see if he passed out in the kitchen or on the couch.

He's about to check the balcony when he hears scratching. He slowly turns around to see that it's coming from Pat's closed bedroom door. He slowly inches towards it, grabbing a hockey stick on the way (Pat keeps it by the front door in case of a robbery, and he always ignores Johnny's argument about it being easier for the robber to access if it's by the  _front door, you fucker._ ) He's reaching for the doorknob when he hears whining. He freezes for a second, and then he rips it open. He doesn't see anything, but then something starts jumping at his legs. He looks down to see a golden cocker retriever puppy staring up at him, his tail wagging while his tongue hangs out of his mouth. Johnny drops the stick and picks him up.

"Who are you?" he asks with a smile. How could he not smile when a face like that exists.

The dog yips and licks his face rapidly, and Johnny can't help but giggle—yes,  _giggle_ —at the feeling. He walks into the bedroom and looks around. "Pat?"

The dog yips again, and Johnny looks at him. "Do you know where Kaner is?"

The dog then barks and wriggles out of Johnny's arms, landing on the bed. He grabs Pat's phone from his nightstand, and before Johnny can grab it from him, the dog is slowly entering the password with his nose. He unlocks it after about half a minute, and Johnny's jaw drops. The puppy look up at him, whining slightly as if he's waiting for Johnny to put the pieces together.

"Pat?"

The dog barks and jumps on him, licking his face while his tail wags a mile a minute. Johnny laughs and hugs him, and the dog—Pat— calms down, resting his head on Johnny's chest. Johnny pets his back, keeping him calm.

"I don't know what to say, Pat. We're supposed to be at practice right now," he says.

Pat barks at that and jumps from Johnny's arms. He runs over to his closet and starts digging through what's on the ground. He then comes out with a Chicago Blackhawks beanie in his mouth. Johnny frowns when Pat drops it in his lap.

"Will this even fit your head?" Johnny asks.

The dog just rests his head in Johnny's lap and looks up at him with—oh no. No. Not the puppy-dog eyes. Only Pat knows that that's Johnny's weakness. Everybody else on the team (Sharpy) thinks that he has no soul.

Johnny sighs before picking it up and putting it on Pat's head. It's a little big, but it's staying, so that's all that matters. Johnny carries him all the way to his car, and he drives back to the UC like his freak out didn't happen at all. He walks in with Pat in his arms, and he picks up his bag when he's walking down the hallway (he would think Brandon would pick it up for him. He didn't want him to, but that's what Brandon does; he does anything to make Johnny's life easier.) He quickly gets into his gear while Pat runs around, sniffing everything as if he hasn't been here before. Johnny doesn't admit to himself that he would do the same when that sense is heightened like that. He _doesn't._

"Pat, are you coming to practice or what?" Johnny asks.

Pat's ears perk up as he hears his name and the mention of practice, and Johnny sits on the bench so that Pat can leap into his lap. He carries him out and stops to watch the team a little. Sharpy spots him and bursts out laughing, falling onto the ice as he loses his balance.

"Johnny, you better have a good explanation for this," he manages to get out.

"Can I tell them?" Johnny whispers to Pat. He gets a lick on his chin as a response. "Guys, this is Pat."

"Oh my God, you named a dog after Kaner?! That's hilarious!" Sharpy exclaims.

"No. This is Pat. Kaner. Peekaboo." There's a growl after that name. "Patrick Timothy Kane II. This is our teammate, Pat. He is a dog. Any other questions?"

Everybody stops skating, and Hossa almost runs into the boards, he's so shocked. Pat yips and jumps onto the ice. He tries to run, but he keeps slipping and falling on his chin. Shawzy picks him up and stares at him.

"Looks like I'm not the only mutt on the team anymore," he comments, and everybody bursts out laughing.

Johnny takes Pat back and puts him on the bench, but when he's about to step on the ice, Pat starts to whine. Johnny turns to see Pat sitting on the bench, facing him with a pained look on his face. Coach Q turns around and sees the look on Johnny's face.

"It doesn't happen again," he says.

Johnny smiles and thanks him before sitting on the bench. Pat immediately crawls into his lap and curls into a ball. His tail twitches a little before it settles around his paws. Johnny takes off his gloves and helmet before loosely letting his arms circle Pat. He watches practice and occasionally runs his hands over Pat's back (the fur is  _really_ soft) to keep him calm. Coach Q blows his whistle, and Pat jumps before attempting to cover his ears with his paws. Johnny instinctively holds the pup to his chest and soothes him by petting him and shushing him. Coach Q immediately apologizes and suggests that Johnny and Pat hang back in the locker room. Pat barks at that and runs down the tunnel. He then stops and waits for Johnny to catch up.

Once Johnny's dressed in the clothes he came in, he picks up an old puck and examines it. Pat's ears suddenly perk up, and Johnny raises his eyebrows before moving the puck around. Pat watches it, his tail wagging behind him.

"Do you want the puck?" Johnny asks.

Pat barks, and he crouches down, his backside high in the air. Johnny tosses it across the room, and Pat chases after it. He picks it up with his mouth and carries it back to Johnny as if he's been doing this for years. Johnny pulls out his phone and calls Donna Kane while he throws the puck again.

"Jonathan! What a surprise! Oh lord, is my son okay?" she asks as soon as she picks up.

"In a sense. Um, has he ever turned into a dog before?" Johnny asks he

"What kind of a question is that?" she asks.

"In this case, a logical question."

"Not that I know of. Jonathan, what's going on?" she questions.

"Well, Pat didn't show up for practice this morning, and I couldn't get a hold of him. I went back to his place and found out that he turned into a dog," Johnny explains.

"How do you know it's actually him?" Donna asks.

"The dog unlocked my phone."

"That's Patrick. I've never heard of something like this, but I'll research it and call you back, okay?"

He nods, and then answers when he remembers that she can't see him. "Okay. Do I feed him dog food, or do I give him regular food?"

"Try both. Get a small bag of dog food, and if he doesn't eat it, then give little bits of cooked chicken. We had to take care of a friend's dog one time, and he always had chicken in his food because of a rare syndrome or disease that he had. All you have to do is buy a chicken breast and cook it in a pan on the stove. No seasonings, no oils. Just cook it until it's ready to eat, and give him small pieces," she tells him.

He thanks her and hangs up before taking the puck from Pat again. The team comes in about an hour later, and they all stop when they see Johnny throw the puck. He hears somebody coo as Pat brings it back to him, and it causes him to smile.

When they get back to the car, Johnny takes one look and decides where to go next. He pulls into a PetsMart a few minutes later and places Pat in a carriage before pushing it inside. He goes down the aisles and grabs squeaky toys, a collar, a leash, dog food, two bowls (food and water) dog treats, a bed, and some dog shampoo because who knows how long he's going to be like this. Pat sniffs everything, his tail wagging the whole time. He then looks at Johnny, and his tail wags even faster. Johnny feels something in his chest, but he thinks it's just karma biting his ass for cheating on his diet.

Once everything is bought, they go back to Johnny's apartment, and he sets everything up while Pat runs around, sniffing every inch of the apartment. He wants to research this himself, but that would be rude, and he would feel guilty when Donna called him back. He shakes off the thought and sets everything up, putting the dog bed in his room because there's no way he's letting Pat run around during the night, marking everything to laugh about it later and give Johnny a smug look every time he looks at the couch or the kitchen counter.

"Pat, are you hungry?" Johnny calls out.

The scraping of claws against the hardwood floors is what catches his attention. Something runs into his legs, and he has to catch himself on the counter while Pat wedges himself between Johnny's legs to eat his food. Johnny looks down and pets him before moving to sit at the island. Pat continues to eat, and when he's done, he goes into Johnny's room, but he doesn't come back out. Johnny decides to follow to see where he went. When he looks into his room, he sees Pat on Johnny's bed.

"Buddy, you can't sleep on the bed," Johnny whines, but Pat doesn't budge.

Johnny gives up and decides to change into sweats and a t-shirt before lying on his bed. He turns on the television and changes it to the NHL Network. Pat crawls over to Johnny and lies on top of his chest. Johnny wraps his arm around the little dog body and presses his face into the fur because it's so  _soft_ and he can't resist it, okay? It's soft, and Johnny bets Pat's hair is soft like this. Just look at those curls. Soft and wild, and they look so easy to get your fingers tangled—

Johnny needs to stop thinking about that before he freaks himself out.

 

*

 

Johnny never expected Pat to be a dog for so long. It's been a week, and they've both missed three games. Today is the day that Johnny comes back because it's a home game, and he told Q that if Pat changed back while he was on a road trip, he would be stuck in a cage for a long time because there's no way he's not putting Kaner in the best hands in Chicago. Sharpy, of course, overheard that little argument, and he offered for Abby to take care of Pat, but Johnny said no because it's not nice to offer up your wife without her permission, asshole.

In other words, Johnny stayed with a puppy instead of going to play hockey.

Don't even ask him why he thought that was a good idea. He watched the games with Pat, and they were both barking at the television (Pat was literally barking. We all know how Johnny barked at the screen). Today will be the first game that Johnny plays ever since Pat changed. He's worried Pat will change back and be disappointed that Johnny isn't there. He's afraid somebody will try to break into his apartment and hurt Pat when he tries to fend off the intruder. He's—

"Stop worrying and Peeksy. He'll be fine," Sharpy assures him with something between a smile and a smirk.

"He's been by my side ever since this happened. It feels weird to not have him on my heels or in my lap," Johnny sighs.

"You'll be fine. It's not going to mess up your game, if that's what you're thinking."

It messes up his game. It crushes up his game and uses it to clean the ice in between periods. All he wants to do is go home and cuddle with Pat, but he's not going to tell anybody that. They'll just think he's too upset to celebrate (he is) and will go home to sleep it off (but he'll snuggle with Pat first).

The worst part about this all is that he  _still_  doesn't know what's going on. He wants to call Donna to see if she's researched the issue at hand, but he doesn't want to seem rude. She may have others things to do, like work and make sure Erica, Jessica, and Jackie are still alive and doing well. Her son is just a dog. It's not  _that_ important.

Okay, it's important, but she promised she would call back once she had an answer.

When Johnny walks through the door to his apartment, he freezes. There are no barks, and there's no claws scratching the floors. Johnny looks around, but he can't find Pat at all. He then looks down the hallway to an open door. He rushes to his room and stops when he sees Pat on his bed, lying in Johnny's t-shirt so that his head and paws stick out of the collar. Johnny smiles and takes his suit off before crawling into bed. He turns off the lights and puts his arm around Pat because Johnny just wants to make sure he doesn't fall off the bed. It has nothing to do with how cute and small he is.

 

*

 

Okay, this is ridiculous. Why hasn't Donna called back? It's been two weeks, and he hasn't heard a thing. Pat's been acting all cute, and Johnny's getting weird feelings in his chest. He needs to know so that he doesn't feel like his chest is going to collapse and kill him. He wants to call, but he doesn't want to be rude. He wants to look it up, but he doesn't want to be rude. Sharpy knows what's going on, and he's giving Johnny strange look when Johnny comes into practice with Pat in a Toews jersey.

Fuck it. He's looking it up.

The first thing he sees is a book about somebody turning into an animal. He decides to go to the news section, and the top post is something that catches his eye.

_"Did the Person You Love Change You Into an Animal?"_

Well, that sounds like complete bullshit to Johnny because who starts an article with that title? He clicks on it, anyway, and his eyes widen as he reads the article. So, Little Peekaboo is in love. Who would change him, though? The only person he hangs out with is—

Oh.  _Oh._ _  
_

Johnny slams his laptop shut and look at Pat who's chasing a puck around the apartment. When he looks at Johnny, he stops and jumps into his lap before licking his face. Johnny laughs and hugs him, trying to keep Pat's wiggling body still. Pat's in love with Johnny, and the reason why he changed was because Johnny took too long to realize that he loved him back, and the only way for him to go back is for Johnny to tell him that he loves him.

Yeah, because THAT'S going to be easy. 

Johnny lies on the couch, bringing Pat with him, and he presses his face into Pat's fur before pressing a light kiss to it. His eyelids start to feel heavy (you try taking care of a dog that has the same amount of energy has human Pat), and he falls asleep, forgetting what he mumbled before he went under.

When he wakes back up, Pat's gone. Johnny immediately gets up and starts to panic when he hears the toilet flush down the hall. He freezes as he listens to the sink run, and when the door opens, he scrambles back to look like he's still asleep. It must trick Pat because he carefully lies back down on Johnny, his face against his chest. Johnny feels Pat's heart racing, so Pat must feel his. He's not saying anything, though, so either he hasn't noticed it, or he doesn't care because Johnny hasn't moved him yet.

After lying there for who knows how long, Johnny shifts while his grip tightens around Pat's waist. Pat freezes, which means he thought Johnny was still asleep. Fuck yeah, Johnny's a better actor than Pat thinks he is.

"Good morning," Johnny sighs.

"Afternoon," Pat corrects.

"Whatever. You comfy?"

Pat starts scrambling. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

Johnny stops him by tightening his grip even more, holding him down. When Pat looks at him, Johnny smirks before flipping them over, managing to keep them on the couch. "I didn't say you could leave, did I?"

"Well, no, but-"

Johnny cuts him off by kissing him. It's soft and sweet and so innocent, and Pat's trying to ruin it with his tongue. Johnny pulls away and says, "Stop it, or this never happens again."

Pat nods, and Johnny kisses him again. As he pulls back, Pat starts to whine, and he sounds like a dog. Johnny laughs and gives him a peck before starting to stand up. Pat takes his wrist and pulls him back down before saying, "I didn't say you could leave, did I?"


End file.
